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A method for checkmate applicable when the lone king is in the corner of the opposite color from the bishop (the "wrong" corner, where checkmate cannot be forced), was given by François-André Danican Philidor in the 1777 update [5] to his famous 1749 treatise, L'Analyse des Échecs. [6]
The bishop and knight mate is one of the four basic checkmates and occurs when the king works together with a bishop and knight to force the opponent king to the corner of the board. The bishop and knight endgame can be difficult to master: some positions may require up to 34 moves of perfect play before checkmate can be delivered.
Two basic checkmate positions are shown with a bishop and a knight, or the bishop and knight checkmate. [40] The first position is a checkmate by the bishop, with the black king in the corner. The bishop can be on other squares along the diagonal, the white king and knight have to be on squares that attack g8 and h7.
The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king; checkmate occurs when a king is threatened with capture and has no escape. A game can end in various ways besides checkmate: a player can resign , and there are several ways a game can end in a draw .
In contrast to a king and two bishops (on opposite-colored squares), or a bishop and a knight, a king and two knights cannot force checkmate against a lone king (however, the superior side can force stalemate [1] [2]). Although there are checkmate positions, a king and two knights cannot force them against proper, relatively easy defense. [3]
Two bishops on opposite-colored squares and king can force checkmate against a lone king, whereas two knights cannot. A bishop and knight can force mate, but with far greater difficulty than two bishops. In certain positions a bishop can by itself lose a move (see triangulation and tempo), while a knight can never do so.
The black king cannot move to e4 for two reasons: the square is occupied by a friendly rook, but even if it weren't, the square is also attacked by the white bishop, which pins the rook to its king. However, the fact that the rook is pinned is necessary in order for the position to be a checkmate.
Many variants on the mate are seen, for example a king on e8 checkmated by bishops on g6 and a3, and a king on f1 checkmated by bishops on h3 and b6. Often the mate is immediately preceded by a sacrifice that opens up the diagonal on which the bishop delivers checkmate, and the mate is often a pure mate (as is the case for all but one of the ...